Recently many cervical collars have been marketed which are constructed from stiff, flexible plastic materials. These designs provide cervical support without the metal structure and bulk associated with prior collars. Thus, the collars are more portable, easily stored and relatively easy to use compared to more traditional devices. These collars include those disclosed in U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 32,219 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,540 and collars sold on the market by Jerome Medical, Mt. Laurel, N.J., under the trade name "NecLoc".
Applicants are inventors of the "STIFNECK".TM. collar disclosed as the preferred embodiment in U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 32,219 (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth) which has become an industry leader. Although the STIFNECK collar provides superior cervical support and is easy to use in an emergency situation where strict immobilization is the key and patient comfort is not a primary concern, it has only limited use as an extended wear collar (i.e., a collar for patient wear over a treatment period, usually days or weeks) where immobilization concerns are much less strict and patient comfort is of much greater concern. This is also true for the collar of U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,540 and the NecLoc collar. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a cervical collar which provides the portability and convenience of these types of collars, while providing features which confer greater patient comfort.